I stayed up until 5 am today to finish this nail biting, thought provoking book. It is very well written and well researched. The storyline made my blood freeze and I worry that potentially we could find ourselves in this shocking situation. I admired the strength of character of Elena and absolutely loathed her husband, particularly as we learned their backstory, which again served to make the two main characters even more rounded. A well deserved 5 stars

She has done it again! What a cracking read! Scary what goes through this authors mind as it could be as if I'm reading an alternate universe based in this time. I love it! Great book yet again.

This is a horrifying but totally engrossing glimpse into a world that doesn't seem too far away - which is what makes it even more terrifying! We are used to being judged on how we look, what products we have etc in our world, but here you are tested to see your quotient, Q, and that will determine the school you go to - either one that nurtures you and encourages the gifted members of society, or sent off away from you family to a school, more like an institution, that is run by the government.

Elena Fairchild is living a blessed life - teaching at one of the elite schools, married to Malcolm who is working for the government behind the scenes, and mother to 2 daughters. They see those who haven't 'succeeded' in life but the way that life is run it is best not to think too much about them. If you have a higher Q it allows you a life of privilege such as extra items at the supermarkets, different queues at the tills, even the school buses are different for children with higher and lower Q's. In this world, even illness requires verification so no playing poorly for a day off work!

But her world is about to change when one of her daughters scores low in her Q test and she sees the other side of the coin - and she doesn't like it. You'd think she'd get support from her husband to try and save their daughter from being sent away, but you'd be wrong! And her life starts unravelling as she looks back at different points in her life and starts to regret certain decisions she made that have led to this moment.

The more that Elena looks into the whole system on which their lives are based, the more she is horrified and desperate to find a way out of it all. You really can sense her devotion to her daughter and imagine yourself in that situation, battling both your other half and the society you live in. go

This is a scary glimpse of a future reality and I loved how real it all felt!! The despair shown by Elena, the harshness of her husband as he towed the government line, and the uncovering of the true reality of the institutions was truly shocking!! A brilliant read!!

‘Q’ is Christina’s second novel. I read her debut novel VOX back in 2018 and I loved it so when I found out she had this book coming out I just couldn’t wait to read it.

Q is set in the near future where almost everything is based around your Q (Quotient) scores. Your Q is not just based on the intelligence tests that are carried out regularly but are also calculated based on other factors such as your family background, education as well as things such as where you work and how much you earn. Your Q score has a massive impact on your life as the higher the Q the better privileges you have.

Now in this book we for Elena whose life is turned upside down when one of her daughters fails her latest Q test. From her on you’ll just have to pick up the book to find out what happens next.

What I can tell you is that wonderfully written book that will get you thinking about the future. This is such a scary realistic dystopian read. It’s fast paced with some fantastic characters. The main character Elena was great. I found her to be really relatable, and although I am not a parent I could really see why she did what she did. I think if I was in the very same position I would probably do the same thing too.

I loved the short chapters it allowed me to race through the book so that I could discover how it all ended. The ending was a hopeful one yet at the same time a little upsetting.

This was definitely a fab read and after reading quite a few medico reads recently it’s definitely great to discover a great read. I finished this book at the end of April and I’m still thinking about this book. I will definitely be adding the physical copy to my shelves. I highly recommend this book and if you enjoyed VOX then I think you’ll definitely like this one.

My thanks to HQ for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Q’ by Christina Dalcher in exchange for an honest review.

It was published on 30 April and I elected to preorder its audiobook edition, narrated by Lisa Flanagan, and so listened alongside reading the eARC.

This was a deeply chilling dystopian novel made more so by it being inspired by historical events. While I knew that eugenics had been embraced by the Nazis, I was unaware of the American eugenics movement of the early twentieth century that predated this.

‘Q’ is Dalcher’s second novel following her 2018 debut, ‘Vox’, that likewise drew upon the disturbing trend in the USA (and elsewhere ) towards extremism. Here it is the quest for perfection that provides the ‘what if’.

‘Q’ is set either in the near future or more likely an alternative now. Dr. Elena Fairchild is a teacher at one of the new elite schools. A mandate has swept the country stressing perfection and for over a decade everyone has been assigned a Q (Quotient) number that indicates their status in society.

Now there are regular tests in school even for young children. Any student who doesn’t measure up is immediately relocated to the new state boarding schools theoretically allowing teachers to focus on the gifted.

Elena and her husband, Malcolm, have two daughters. However, their marriage is very shaky. When their youngest, nine-year old Freddie, takes her monthly test and her Q number drops below the acceptable level she is immediately reassigned to a state school located in Kansas. Elena risks her career and marriage to bring her back home.

Complicating the situation is that Malcolm is the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Education and so is involved with writing these new policies. Even Elena isn’t without complacency in this new society. At High School both she and Malcolm were part of a geeky crowd, who got their revenge by suggesting the introduction of a card system that prioritised intelligence over popularity.

“What if we turned it around? I mean, what if we made it so the dumb popular people had to—I don’t know—wait in line for lunch? Or pay extra for stuff?”.... from small beginnings a dystopia is born.

Elena is in denial about the implications of these policies until she is faced with the terrifying reality.

I found this a compelling and highly disturbing read. Even more so than ‘Vox’ its premise is all too possible given certain insidious trends in society that demonises the ‘other’.

I feel that this is an important novel and one that I would expect would appeal to reading groups given that it is not only an engaging story but one that provides a wide scope of topics for discussion.

Spectacular read, absolutely blew me away. I am speechless, just can’t put into words how amazing this book is. I seriously recommend you read this. Terrifying, bone chilling , scarily realistic dystopian fiction. But beyond this it’s about family, what you will do to protect them and humanity itself. It’s wonderfully well written, I was a fan of Vox but I think she’s gone a step further, this isn’t an easy read, it will leave you thinking and feeling emotional, but read it you definitely should. One of my best reads for 2020.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

After reading Vox last year, I was really looking forward to reading this book.
Q is an unsettling, dystopian story based around Elena and her fight against a new system of hierarchy meant to divide the population.
The story mainly focuses on the education system, but these sanctions affect every part of life and is based on a persons 'Q' rating. Elena is top tier all the way - smart, succesful & beautiful, but when her youngest daughter flunks a test and her Q score drops below the required mark, she is taken off to a government boarding school with visits only possible once a quarter.
The scenes when Freddie leaves were horrendous to read as a parent and I understand completely why Elena then did all she could to make sure she could get to her daughter.
This is a powerful read that despite being fiction, has stark similarities to real-life situations. Definitely one that will get you thinking.

Elena Fischer Fairchild has helped create and support a society where your station, accessibility and opportunities are based on a handy identifying number known as the Q number.
Citizens are tested on numerous subjects every month, and one failure results in immediate demotion down society's pecking order. Ostensibly about intelligence, the system was horrific enough to begin with with built in oppression as par of the course, but now runs the risk of being co-opted by the Fitter Family Campaign, a group with it's own agenda, who has been inspired by America's own deep and murky past.
Dystopian books really hit their stride when they play with the extremes of policy and ideas that already exist - providing warnings about all those throwaway comments made and what would happen if they became reality, and Q does that in terrifying beauty.
Elena is a complex character. While she learns from mistakes and wakens up to the reality around her, sacrificing and putting her children above all else, she holds a lot of unlikeable qualities. She oozes white upper class privilege and selfishness, and is as much to blame for what goes on around her as anyone could be. That she works to take down the system she essentially created, and that she created it from her own place of pain and oppression, does not absolve her of the trauma and tragedy that has resulted. But her complexity makes her compelling. I could not say she is likeable, although she has some likeable notes to her, but she is not so hateful as to turn me off. In fact her awakening drew me in further.
My only quibble was that as Elena starts to uncover some home truths towards the end she seems to forget about what is going on with children, and it is only as a throw away line later on that we discover what was happening elsewhere.
An well written dystopian thriller.

This is a terrifying and powerful read. As well as being a real page turner its horribly realistic and will give you that scared creeping feeling of dread. I predict this book doing so well with readers!

Set in the near future, Q paints a disturbing picture of a world where self-importance and injustice prevail in America's education system. A mother will stop at nothing to protect her daughter who has been sent to a 'special' state school hundreds of miles away after her grades in school, slip.
I enjoyed the writing style and the characters were well-formed. It was a little difficult to fully empathise as the marriage had broken down so badly. I was expecting a more dramatically involving ending, but apart from that, I felt it was a good read.

This is a truly terrifying novel, far too close to our society today. It is set in the near future where everything is based on your Q scores, essentially your intelligence. When her daughter fails her latest test and is sent to a state boarding school, a powerful woman decides to follow. What emerges is an horrifying investigation into the plans of some politicians for the future generations. This is a very well written book, thought proving and with an upsetting yet hopeful ending. It will stay with me.

This is a dystopian thriller that is uncomfortable to read.

Teacher Elena Fairchild is married to Malcolm, who works for the Department of Education, and is a mother of two girls; Anne and Frederica "Freddie". Each person has a quotient 'Q' number out of 10 and is routinely tested. If your number falls below 9, you are sent to a yellow government school, away from your family, so that the "regular" silver schools can focus only on gifted children and those who have a high Q number.

After a test, Elena and Malcolm youngest daughter Freddie's results put her below the minimum of 9 and she is sent away to one of these government schools. Elena realises that this is all about eugenics and sets out to find out, and prove, what is really going on.

It's a really uncomfortable read and Dalcher writes brilliantly. I will be honest and say that it did take me a while to get into this one, probably because dystopian thrillers aren't the type of book I'd choose, but I'm so glad I stuck this one out. It's thought-provoking and a little scary.

This was the first Christina Dalcher book that I’ve read and a bit of a wild card for me compared to my usual genres.

Described as a Dystopian Thriller I read the Synopsis and was intrigued..... so I thought I’d give it a go.

This is a story based very much around the Eugenics movement, a book that was very hard hitting at times and truly thought provoking!

This story was predominantly focused on a three tiered schooling system based on your Q number, or quotient / qualifier. It wasn’t too hard to imagine that something similar could quite easily happen in the world we live in today and for me, was very reminiscent of what happened in Europe during WW2 when Hitler attempted to create the ‘perfect race’.

I enjoyed learning about Elena’s life story, told in the first person, her relationships with her husband (an awful, loathsome man), her children, parents and her beloved Oma!

I didn’t love this book, but equally I didn’t hate it. My first Dystopian Thriller, I’m glad that I read it and pushed myself to try a genre outside of my ‘norm’. If you like a Dystopian novel I would definitely recommend giving it a try.
3.5 stars from me.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for a advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free ecopy of this book in return for an honest review. Many thanks to @netgalley and Harper Collins for the opportunity.

I do like a good dystopian and the description of Q (also published as Master Class) caught my eye, but I was hesitant about reading it. I worried it would be tough going, and I kept pushing it aside in favour of lighter reads. Then, pow, Covid-19 happened and there was my sense of focus out of the window! Suddenly I had more time than ever before to read but nothing was holding my attention. I picked Q up, and, honestly, it was miraculous. I was instantly sucked in. I was through several chapters before I even became conscious that I was reading.

The lead character, Elena is a teacher and mother of two girls. Anne, the eldest is an all round grade A student. Freddie, the younger, not so much. In our world that wouldn’t matter, but in this world everything revolves around your Q or Quotient score. The Q score, however, is more than just an intelligence test, it is also calculated by attendance, lateness and other factors such as salary and Q score of other family members. Your Q score has a massive impact on life, from allowing you to jump the queue at the supermarket, down to which parent gets custody in a break up.

When Freddie fails her monthly Q tests and is packed off to a state school in Kansas. Elena is devastated and sabotages her own Q test in order to go bring her home. Of course it’s not as easy as that.

The narrative is punctuated by flashbacks to Elena’s youth. Choices and regrets are a major theme. As are a twisting of current values. The current mantra of Children’s workers, ‘No child left behind’ has become, “No child left behind means all children suffer.” Abortions are now encouraged and expected. The reminiscences of Elena’s ailing grandmother, about Nazi Germany highlight the urgency of Freddie’s situation adding a nail biting tension to the book while serving as a reminder of the perils in allowing freedom to slip too far and the stealth by which it can be taken.

The writing is intelligent but not heavy going. It sucks the reader in and before the end forces you to witness Elena having to make some horrifying choices. By then, of course, you are far too emotionally involved to let go.

The premise of Q is a manmade crisis and very different to the deadly disease currently ravaging humankind, but many of the emotions of fear, and loss of control are the same. I found this book to be the perfect buffer between needing to find a connection with reality, but also needing to escape for a while.

Wow. Where to begin? I fell head over heels in love with this book and the author. Not only was it beautifully written but the plot was fantastic and carried along a colourful array of characters. I really liked Elena as the protagonist of the story and while I agree she had her flaws, what is more relatable than that? I thought she was quick-witted and honest, intriguing and yes, ruthless. I liked the opportunity we had to delve into Elena's past and this really helped pull the book together and understand her better. The rest of the characters were also really interesting, from wonderful Oma to awful Malcolm. I thought the subject matters were fascinating and really thought-provoking - they stayed with me long after I put the book down and led me to do my own research into the matters. I'll be telling everyone to read this books - and finally checking out Vox!

Thanks NetGalley for my ARC of this book.

Well… where to start? This is written in first-person viewpoint, so we see the world through the eyes of Elena, a high-achieving, successful teacher with two lovely daughters and a brilliant, successful husband. Though it soon becomes clear, in the middle of the huge info-dump that comprises the first section of the book, that she isn’t happily married. When a book is written in first-person POV throughout, especially when it is a classic fall from grace narrative, it’s important that the reader can bond and sympathise with the protagonist.

Initially, despite the rather indigestible lump of information about the way the educational testing worked, I was reasonably sympathetic. Elena had been a studious girl, who was slighted and overlooked by the cheerleaders. However, as the book went on, my first feelings rapidly faded, to be replaced by incredulity at her vengefulness, because she got her own back on them! And then I was shocked at her willingness to go along with the status quo, when the Family First movement started to turn ugly – and then I just disliked and despised her. Elena was perfectly happy to merely tut under her breath and shake her head, when A-grade students went missing from her class and her daughter’s best friend disappears. It also turns out she was a horrible bully at school. She was willing to turn her back on the love of her life, in return for material comfort – and I’m supposed to sympathise? I don’t think the wretched woman made an intelligent choice in her life and her reaction to her daughter’s test score is absolutely nonsensical, given her own status. As for the outcome and ending… I felt it verged on the ridiculous.

It is such a shame! This is an important subject, deserving of an intelligent examination with a likeable protagonist, rather than a cold-hearted, self-serving materialist with the instincts of a hormonal teenager. Because the scenario Dalcher depicts is all too plausible. The ebook arc copy of Q was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest opinion of the book.

The “Q” in the title is your Q score that defines how your future life will be, which line will you be at the shop, what sort of house you can live in, what work you do, etc. Everybody is regularly tested, and those whose scores fall find their life may become more uncomfortable.
This is the dystopian, near-future world of Elena Fairchild, a teacher at an elite school, her husband Malcolm who is a government official, and their two daughters, talented Anne, and Freddie, who struggles.
When Freddie fails a Q test and is sent to the lowest-grade school, Elena is determined to accompany and support her.
As she tries to make sense of what is happening, we learn how she and her husband were instrumental in inventing the Q regime, when they were bullied at school for being bright and different. But as she discovers how far this had been extended in order to produce an elite society, where the weak, and less gifted are hidden away, she is horrified.
Elena’s grandmother was a child in Nazi Germany , has seen it all before, and can’t believe it’s happening again.
As in Vox, this is the story of a mother fighting an oppressive regime in order to save her daughter.
The book is very readable and very thought-provoking, how easy it is to allow evil to take over, in the name of the common good.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for the opportunity to read this book.

From the previous book VOX I was already prepared for a rollarcoaster ride of a story to read, I was certainly not let down!

The story is all about perfection and how people are rated when they have completed tests when they are young, with the older generation they are rated by their job and money status, this number you are given affects how you live in society.

The Government and sanctions decide who and where the young and old end up! This story touches on the adult living, however it is mainly based around the children and the tests that they take and whether they pass or fail them, depending on the Q score they receive.

You are introduced to Elena's family straight away and what is happening down her street, while the children are being collected for school in various colour coded buses.

Elena's family was created with what she thought was the right ‘gene’ to have, she had thought about this especially when she was young and bonding with her then boyfriend. However, she never understood what consequences and the choices she made, that could affect her future.

Her daughters Anne and Freddie take the Q score tests, however one of them doesn't pass as well as the other and the implications of what happens with a less than perfect score, becomes apparent.

There are flash backs in Elena’s teenage years, how both girls and boys can be cruel with outcomes that are not always intentional. This helps you understand more about Elena as a character and how she may have regretted the choices she made, with the things she had said.

The husband and wife relationship between Elena and her husband is tested to the brinks of destruction, in the end opening wounds even bigger, revealing secrets that included plans for her future.

Warnings of past history that should never be relived with unbelievable connections, runs throughout the story, with Elena's grandmother warning her that her own horrific past is being brought back to life, in her granddaughter and her children and that she must listen to her advice before it is too late!

This is a fascinating twist on the perfect society. How do they reach that goal, who is perfect and at what cost!

This is a story that keeps you thinking long after finishing it, it makes you question the characters emotions, why societies need to be perfect and the way it is brought forward.

A definite must read.

(This book will also be included in my best spring books roundup on rachelphipps.com in June.)

R E V I E W. Happy Publication Day to Q by @cvdalcher - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (thanks so much to @hqstories & @netgalley for sending me an advance copy to review!) Obviously after naming Vox, Christina Dalcher’s last modern dystopian read my favourite book of 2020 so far I was super excited to get my hands on a copy of Q and it honestly lived up to be everything I thought it would be - actually I think with a much more satisfying and realistic ending than the one given Vox.

What’s your Q score? That little reflection of your IQ, always changing with constant testing that determines, if you’re a child, what sort of school you go to, if you’re an adult, what kind of job you can have and what line you have to stand in at the grocery store. This is the world that Elena Fairchild and her children live in now. A perfect world, where perfect people with perfect scores are the ones in charge. Elena believes the system is harmless, why shouldn’t the best and the brightest be given the best opportunities? But when one of her daughters tests too low and is taken away from her, she purposely fails her own assessment so that she can go with. What she find there, at this other school, this out of state facility for failed children reveals a truth more horrible than she’d could ever have imagined.

There is a quality to Christina’s writing that has you devouring her words in as few sittings as possible - I simply can’t put her books down. I loved how with Q she’s built another unique - yet totally plausible dystopia that makes you feel rightly uncomfortable whilst you’re gripped to find out what happens to her characters. (Which are brilliant, by the way. I don’t know if it is her writing or the unjustness of the world she’s built but you become very invested in them very quickly, and begin hating those worth hating even faster.) Not until I read the authors note at the end did I realise how prevalent eugenics was as an idea in the USA as well as Europe - Q holds some important lessons about not repeating past mistakes especially as we’re all emerging into an unknown world. Q is for you if you love a gripping read with a message that rings just a little too true.

I am quite happy to announce I am part of the Blogger Takeover for Q by Christina Dalcher. Many thanks to Izzy and the HQ Team, for sending me an ARC copy of this book!

Elena is a teacher at one of the most prestigious schools in America. Her daughters are just like her: ambitious, smart, beautiful and perfect.

Elena is happily married to Malcolm, who is the man that is in charge in the new tier system in the country. Every month, everyone has to undergo a number of tests to determine their Q. The “Q” is a quotient that is based on every metric: genetics, IQ, social status, past history, etc. Depending on the Q number, people are split into three different tiers:

SILVER
The top tier, prestigious schools, money and social status. Always first in line for everything. Privileged. The best. Perfect. The (only) humans that America wants.

GREEN
The middle tier. Not the best, could be better. If they improve their scores, they could upgrade to silver again, but most statistics show that you can only go down from here.

YELLOW
The bottom tier. People that hop on the yellow bus are taken to the state schools, and there are rumours about the kind of places they are taken to. These people are last in line for everything.

As usual, justice boils down to how high you can keep your Q rating.

When one of Elena’s daughters fails the tests and is sent with the yellow bus, Elena makes the choice of failing the test herself on purpose, only to join her daughter. The things she is about to see and experience are worse than you could ever imagine!

My Thoughts:
Q is one of those books that is based in a fictional world, but it certainly makes you see the similarities with today’s society. It dives into a dystopian world that might as well be a future one for us, if we don’t acknowledge the fact how our society works today.

The story is told from Elena’s point of view, both in the present time and the past. As we move through the book we get to know Elena better as a mother, as a wife and as a person. I loved the fact that we were slowly finding out facts about her, sometimes as she did as well. Along that, we also get to see how her choices in the past played a huge impact into her present.

Choices don’t matter when they’ve already been made.

But I think what matters in this book is the consequences of all these people making choices, especially Elena. And sometimes, it may be too late to fix something that has gone out of control.

Elena’s perspective as a mother was very emotional in every single way. Even though I wasn’t a mother, I could still feel what Elena was feeling. I loved the fact she cared so much about Freddie, that she chose to fail her tests and get moved to the state school too. However, I also feel that she somehow left Anne out of the picture. It was as if Elena and Freddie were one team, while Anna and Malcolm were another, even before Freddie failed her test.

On the other side, we had Malcolm.
The husband, the father and also the man in charge of the tier system. A very cold human, with no remorse, no empathy, very arrogant and extremely manipulative. Watching Elena’s relationship with him reveal and uncover scenes from the past was an interesting concept I enjoyed about this book. We also had a small opportunity to find about how the two daughters felt as well. Children are able to feel something is wrong with their parents or their lives. They have their own opinions as well, that define the actions they might made. This was beautifully shown in a few scenes in the book.

It is definitely important to mention Elena’s parents and grandmother. Oma is a queen and I loved her! She made me crack up and made me cry. She made me miss my grandma a lot! Here’s to all Omas!

Christina’s writing is really admirable. She managed to tell us all the facts about life that we already know in another light. This Is something I really admired throughout the book, and here is a paragraph I really enjoyed:

Any child knows time slows down in the days before Christmas; any bride knows time speeds up during a wedding reception. And any mother knows time flies in the years after she gives birth.

It was very interesting to read a book that takes on society tiers in such an extreme way. We may not be aware, but this is happening to us on daily basis. Not to the degree as described in the book, but it is definitely going in that direction.

We get separated into groups since we are little kids in school. Someone is always picked first, and someone is always last. Then we grow up, and we think we’re past it. But before we know it, some of our friends have other friends and we get separated again, based on our work, neighbourhood, background, physical appearance, nowadays even social media status.

Even though fiction, Q still touches home, and that it why I love this book. Because it’s as real as it is fictional.

And it will hurt you to the core.